1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, and more particularly a silver halide color reversal photographic light-sensitive material which exhibits great interimage effect and small dependency on the changes in developing process factors.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is demanded of color reversal photographic light-sensitive materials to achieve good photographic properties. Demand for image quality is particularly great as compared with other photographic properties. Main items determining image quality are graininess, sharpness, and color reproduction. Of these items, sharpness and color reproduction may be improved by the technique of enhancing interimage effect, which has hitherto been studied.
Interimage effect is described in, for example, Hanson et al. "Journal of the Optical Society of America," Vol. 42, pp. 663-669, and A. Thiels, "Zeitschrift fuer Wissenschaftliche photographie, Photophysique and Photochemie," vol. 47, pp. 106-118 and pp. 246-255.
Known as methods of enhancing interimage effect are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,486 discloses a method of introducing diffusible 4-thiazoline-2-thione into exposed color reversal photographic element, in order to attain desirable interimage effect. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,487 discloses a method of introducing diffusible 4-thiazoline-2-thione into unexposed color reversal photographic element, for the same purpose.
Further, JP-B-48-34169 describes that marked interimage effect results by making an N-substituted-4-thiazoline-2-thione compound present when the color photographic light-sensitive material is developed to reduce silver halide. ("JP-B" means Published Examined Japanese Patent Application.)
The technique of forming a colloidal siver-containing layer between the cyan and magenta layers of a color reversal photographic element, thereby to obtain desirable interimage effect is described in Research Disclosure No. 131, pp. 13116 (1975).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,553 discloses a method of attaining desirable interimage effect in a color reversal light-sensitive material of an arrangement in which iodine ions can move while the material is being developed. In this method, silver iodide grains which form latent images are contained in one of the layers of the material, and silver iodide grains which forms latent images and silver halide grains which are surface-fogged to be developed regardless of image exposure are contained in another of the layers of the material.
Moreover, JP-A-62-11854 discloses the technique of enhancing interimage effect by using 5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiazole compounds. ("JP-A" means Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application.)
As for color negative film, a method in which so-called DIR couplers are used is known. This is the technique wherein couplers release development inhibitors as dyes are formed during color development, and the concentration difference between the development inhibitors results in interimage effect, thereby to improve sharpness. Although applicable to color light-sensitive materials (e.g., color negative film and color paper), the method cannot be expected to achieve interimage effect in black-and-white photographic materials or color light-sensitive materials (e.g., color reversal film and color reversal paper), in which main image-forming process is effected during black-and-white development. This is because the method achieves the effect during color development only.
Known as a technique of obtaining interimage effect during black-and-white development is to use a DIR-hydroquinone which releases a development inhibitor through the development. (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,364,022 and 3,379,529, JP-A-50-62435, JP-A-50-133833, JP-A-51-51941, JP-A-50-119631, JP-A-52-57828, JP-A-62-103639, and JP-A-62-251746.)
JP-A-64-546 describes a image-forming method, in which a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material having a hydrophilic colloid layer containing no silver halide and a DIR-hydroquinone is subjected to treatment including a black-and-white development step, thereby improving sharpness and graininess.
The methods described above, wherein mercapto compounds, triazole compounds, benzothiazolium compounds, or DIR-hydroquinones are used to enhance interimage effect, are disadvantageous in view of an increased dependency on the changes in developing process factors.
The term "changes in developing process factors" are mainly the changes in the composition of the first development solution (i.e., black-and-white development solution) in the color reversal treatment. These changes may also include those in temperature and in stirring conditions. The composition mainly changes due to the changes in the amount of materials processed, and those in controlling conditions of the development facility (e.g., quantity of replenisher and evaporated amount of process solutions). More specific examples are the changes in the pH of the first development solution, the amount of potassium bromide contained in the solution, and the amount of potassium thiocyanate contained in the solution.
If the dependency on the changes in developing process factors is great, it will be difficult to form images of constant quality always. Accordingly it has been demanded that light-sensitive materials be provided which exhibit enhanced interimage effect and which are yet hardly affected by such changes in developing process factors.